


Domino Effect

by autobotscoutriella



Series: Archaeometric Dating [4]
Category: Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Community: fandomweekly, F/F, Missions Gone Wrong, supportive friends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-07
Updated: 2019-03-07
Packaged: 2019-11-13 06:04:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,003
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18026129
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/autobotscoutriella/pseuds/autobotscoutriella
Summary: Even if Lancer had known how many things could go wrong on a routine supply run, she wouldn't have been able to stop them all. That doesn't stop her from feeling guilty.





	Domino Effect

**Author's Note:**

> Originally written for [FandomWeekly](https://fandomweekly.dreamwidth.org/204189.html) for the prompt "Missed the Mark".

It was supposed to be routine. It should have been _safe_.

Lancer paced the hallway outside the medbay, fighting the urge to kick the door open and _demand_ a status update from _anyone_ convenient. How could things have gone so wrong?

It should have been _routine_.

"Lance, hey, you're gonna wear a hole in the floor."

Lancer jumped at the voice and spun on a heel, catching herself just in time. "Firestar! I—I didn't see you there."

"I know. Sorry." Firestar rested a hand on Lancer's shoulder, sympathy extending through her EM field. "Heard you got a friend in there."

Lancer forced herself to draw a slow vent. "Her name's Greenlight. She was on—on her way back from Nova Cronum. Commander thought it'd be safer to travel with the supply run, so they sent her back a day early."

"Unlucky break." Firestar gently pulled Lancer toward the single narrow bench beside the medbay door. Lancer allowed herself to be sat down next to Firestar, wondering why there was one of those identical plain metal benches outside every medbay she'd ever seen. What was the point? No one wanted to _sit_ while waiting to hear bad news.

"Hey, it's okay," Firestar prompted, taking one of Lancer's hands in her own. "Look, I saw the report. No fatalities. The medics'll patch her up. They're good at that."

"Thought everyone here was." Lancer stared at the opposite wall, where a patch of worn paint revealed bare metal. Her reflection wavered faintly in it, dull and blurry. The whole world was blurry. Were those tears? No, they couldn't be. "That mission was supposed to be routine. What the hell happened?"

"Few different things." Lancer felt Firestar's shoulder rise in a slight shrug. "I dunno exactly what went down, but sounds like the Commander here got a little careless with the supply runs. Used the same routes from here to Nova too often. Add a comm line that's too old to be secure, not enough of a guard with the supplies, patrol delays..."

"Stupid. That should have been _checked_.” It came out sounding almost harsh. "Just because half a dozen mechs fragged up instead of just one, doesn't make it okay."

The blurry reflection, devoid of any injuries, taunted her. She swallowed hard and added, "They were going to send me as an extra guard. Shouldn't have turned it down. Thought it was routine and they wouldn't need me."

Firestar seemed to be about to say something, but before she could, the medbay door slid open and a very young medic stepped into the hall. "Er—excuse me, Lancer? You wanted to be notified when—when Greenlight woke up?"

"Yes!" Lancer bolted off the bench, nearly shoving Firestar aside, but caught herself before she could charge through the door. "I—yes. Is she all right?"

"She'll recover. It's not as bad as it could have been." The medic shifted in place, looking from Firestar to Lancer and back again. "She—she'd like to see you. I can only give you a few minutes. And I can only have one of you come in, I'm sorry—"

Firestar waved a hand in Lancer's direction. "'S fine, I'm just the moral support. Go see your friend."

Lancer mumbled a rushed thank-you in Firestar's direction and darted into the medbay before the medic could change his mind, trying to stop her hands from shaking. A few minutes was _something_.

Greenlight lay curled up under a light mesh blanket on one of the back berths, EM field tucked tight against her plating and optics offline. The few panels of green plating visible outside the blanket were scuffed and dented, and Lancer spotted the distinct outline of a knee brace on one side.

"Hey." She dropped down to one knee beside the head of the berth, keeping her voice low. "How you feeling, huh?"

Greenlight's optics flickered open, slightly unfocused from what was no doubt a decent amount of painkillers. "Hey. He...let you in?"

"Just for a few minutes." Lancer reached out to touch Greenlight's shoulder, then spotted the nanite patch over a deep scrape and thought better of it. "You're gonna be fine, he said."

Greenlight blinked and tried to push herself up, arm shaking as she did so. "Lancer, I—I screwed up. In the battle. I didn't...I couldn't...I don't know what happened."

"Hold up, now." Lancer tried to sound reassuring. "Listen, battles are...it was your first one, right? It's not—look, the 'Cons got our supply routes somehow, but you don't have those. You're not the one who fragged up." At least, not the only one, but she didn't need to hear that.

Greenlight slumped back onto the berth, optics flickering. "I couldn't—I was—I was _useless_ in that fight. They've been on that route before just fine and then the first time I tag along—"

"Easy, easy. Hey." Lancer took her friend's hand in both of her own, holding as tightly as she dared. "It's okay, yeah? First time's tough. It was _supposed_ to be routine. Lots of screwups, but...not your fault." _I should have been there._ She couldn't say it out loud.

"How d'you know?" Greenlight's voice was starting to slur, a likely sign that a sedative of some kind was taking effect. "I should have..."

"Should've, nothing." Something dangerously close to a sob welled in her throat. She crushed it. "You made it back, that's what counts. I thought..."

Greenlight blinked up at her through sleepy optics. "You...worried about me?"

"'Course I did." Lancer squeezed Greenlight's hand. "When I heard you were with the unit that got hit—" She swallowed and forced down the anxious guilt. "You're here. We'll figure out what happened later, and it won't happen again. Just...just rest. You're alive."

_She's alive._

Until that moment, Lancer hadn't allowed herself to think about it in those terms. Mistakes in war usually came with a higher price tag.

_Next time I'll be there. It won't happen again._


End file.
